Every Daisy should have a Barrow
by starliam
Summary: Thomas saves Daisy from an attack. This brings him closer to Bates, who has to face some demons. The story takes place right after the end of season 6: Thomas is the new butler of Downton Abbey.
1. Chapter 1

The servant's hall was almost full that afternoon: everybody was enjoying the few moments of peace before tea, after tending to their usual duties.  
Suddenly, the telephone in the butler's pantry started ringing. Mr. Barrow was out for his half day, and Mrs. Hughes went to telephone call had started like a normal one, but almost immediately the attention of the other servants was caught by what Mrs. Hughes was saying, and her alarmed tone of voice.  
"Daisy... Daisy, calm down, please! Daisy, I can't understand... Are you hurt?"  
Everyone stood up, to get closer to the pantry.  
"Daisy, listen to me.. I'll tell them. You stay there... no! Stay at the hospital, and let the doctor check on you..."  
Some silence from Mrs. Hughes, and Mrs. Patmore, pale and scared, got even closer and started to speak, but the housekeeper signaled her to stay quiet.  
"Yes... Daisy... try to stay calm. Do what the doctor says. Mr. Barrow is going to be fine. Now, I'll tell Lord and Lady Grantham, and we'll be there as soon as possible. Don't worry. Everything is going to be fine". Mrs. Hughes put back the telephone, and got out of the pantry, surrounded by the others.  
"What happened?" asked Anna.  
"Is Daisy fine?" almost shouted Mrs. Patmore.  
"Yes. I think so. But Mr. Barrow is in the hospital, he is having surgery, and it doesn't look so good".  
"What?" exclaimed someone, maybe Andy.  
"Did he try again..." asked Mr. Bates, surely thinking about Thomas' recent attempted suicide.  
"No, no, nothing like that. Daisy was very upset, but from what I understood, she was attacked in the village by some... men, and Mr. Barrow intervened to help her. They beat him up pretty badly, she said something about an internal bleeding and surgery. I need to tell Their Lordships, and I guess we'll go to the hospital. But Daisy wasn't hurt, she said".  
Mrs Hughes started to walk up the stairs, ordering the others to wait. She knew the family was all in the library, with the Dowager Countess; and when she entered, everyone looked at her, surprised. "I'm really sorry to bother you, my lord and my lady... there has been a terrible accident... Daisy just telephoned from the hospital. She said she had been attacked by some men, and Mr. Barrow saved her and got a bad beating. He is having surgery. It doesn't look well".  
After a memento of shocked silence, Branson said: "I'll get the car. We need to go there".  
"Yes. Yes, of course", said Lady Grantham. "But not all of us, it wouldn't be respectful. Mrs. Hughes, why you don't we go together, with Miss Baxter too. Barrow and her are pretty close. We will telephone as soon as we know something". Cora stood up and followed Mrs. Hughes outside with Branson.

Mrs. Patmore, Andy, Anna and Bates were waiting in the servant's hall with a cup of tea, together with the young maids and the hallboy.  
The silence was broken only by Mrs. Patmore question. "Mr. Bates, earlier you asked if Mr. Barrow had tried again... what? What were you asking?"  
Bates looked at her. She didn't know about Thomas' suicide attempt. "Nothing. Really," he answered, with a reassuring smile.  
"But..." she was interrupted by the noise of the door opening, and someone walking down the stairs. Everybody stood, and Cora entered the hall, hugging a crying Daisy by the shoulders. Tom Branson was behind them. Mrs. Patmore and Andy immediately went to Daisy. "We convinced her to come home. She is fine, but pretty shaken up", said Lady Grantham, in a sweet voice. Mrs. Patmore hugged Daisy, who was very pale and had a black eye.  
"What happened, honey?" asked the cook.  
"I... I was coming home from the village, when... when three men attacked me from behind. I didn't see them coming. One of them... punched me, and I started screaming. I though... I thought no one would come. And then... someone else screamed. It was Mr. Barrow. He... he started fighting with them, and I could run away to search for help. I came back after a couple of minutes with other people, and the attackers run away when they saw us. Mr. Barrow was on the ground, he was bleeding... and the other people who came helped call for an ambulance. I went to the hospital with him, and Dr. Clarkson told me he had to have surgery, because they suspected an internal bleeding. That's when I called you".  
"And what about now?" asked Andy.  
"When we left, he was still having surgery," answered Mr. Branson. "We wanted to bring Daisy home, but Mrs. Baxter and Mrs. Hughes are still there. I'll go back to the hospital with some things Mr. Barrow might need. Mr. Bates, do you mind coming with me to his room?"  
"Yes, sir".  
"I will need a bag," said the former chauffeur.  
"I'm sure Mr. Barrow has a suitcase, in his room". The two men walked up the stairs, until they reached Thomas' room. Bates opened the closet, and got a small suitcase. "I think this will be big enough," he said. Tom opened some drawers, and gathered underwear, socks, and a couple of pajamas, while Bates got the shaving kit and the book that was on the nightstand. "I think he would like to have this".  
"Yes, if he ever..." Tom didn't finish the sentence, and Bates said: "Let's not think about that, now".  
After Branson left again for the hospital, everybody was again waiting in the servant's hall. Daisy was nursing a cup of tea, without drinking it. She had explained that the police had come to the hospital, called by the nurses; and she had told them everything that could have been useful to catch the attackers.  
"It's all my fault," she said at some point. "I should have never walked alone in that street..."  
"No, it wasn't!" answered a very pale Anna, almost shouting. "It's never the victim's fault, Daisy," said then, in a gentler voice.  
"She's right", said Andy. "You have every right to walk alone where you want. What they wanted to do... is not excusable". Daisy didn't say anything more. Bates took his wife's hand.  
Before anyone could speak again, the phone in the butler's pantry started ringing, and Anna got up to answer. Everyone held their breath.  
"Oh, that's a relief!" said Anna, turning to look at the others with a big smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Hughes! Yes, I'll tell the family now!"  
She put down the phone, and explained: "Mr. Barrow is out of surgery. Dr. Clarkson said he is not out of the woods yet, but he is optimistic. Mrs. Baxter will stay with him for tonight, while Mr. Branson and Mrs. Hughes are coming home. I have to go upstairs and tell the family".  
Everyone smiled, and Daisy started crying again.


	2. Chapter 2

Thomas was recuperating slowly, but steady. In the end, he had needed two surgeries: one for an internal bleeding in his stomach, and the other one for a broken rib that Dr. Clarkson thought it could puncture the lung.  
Apart from that, he had a lot of bruises, but nothing that could put his life in danger.  
But there was something that was troubling him. Since he had regained consciousness, he had received a lot of visitors. Pretty much, he was never left alone. Baxter, of course, Daisy, who apologized and thanked him profusely, even after Thomas had told her there was no need. And Mrs. Patmore, Mrs. Hughes, even Mr. Carson, Branson and Lord and Lady Grantham. Lady Mary wanted to bring him the kids, but he thought that seeing him with black and blue bruises wasn't ideal for them. And Anna and Bates. Especially Bates. It seemed that the man wasn't capable of spending one day without seeing him. He was coming every afternoon, when he knew he didn't have to dress His Lordship, and even on his half day. Thomas had actually learned through Baxter that Bates had asked for a free day to be with him, when he was still unconscious. Thomas couldn't understand why he did it. They had never been friends, even if they were definitely on friendlier terms. And he wasn't a good talker either. He had never been, but now he was just sitting there, making a bit of small conversation, asking Thomas if he needed something. Sometimes he was reading Thomas the newspaper. But it was odd. Why Bates was so keen to spend his free time with Thomas, of all the people?  
So, one day Thomas asked him."What are you doing here all the time?"  
Bates was sitting next to him, brooding, as usual. He raised his eyebrows, and just asked: "What do you mean?"  
"Well... We've never been close, have we? And now you are here everyday. I see you more often than Dr. Clarkson".  
"You don't want me here?"  
"No, it's not that. I'm just curious. You have a three month old baby, I would think you'd want to spend more time with him and Anna than with me, in a hospital".  
Bates stayed silent for a moment. "I think... I am here because what you did was... kind of personal, for me".  
Thomas was confused. "Personal? Why?"  
"I think it was quite heroic what you did. That's all".  
"I wouldn't say that. I did what everyone would have done. I heard a woman screaming, and I went to help. I didn't even know it was Daisy screaming, until I got there. Anyone would have done the same".  
"That's the thing. It's not true. At least three people attacked her... they wouldn't have done what you did".  
"Well, of course". Thomas seemed exasperated. "I meant every decent person".  
"Sadly, the more I live, the more I see that decent people are less and less".  
"You are quite optimistic, Mr. Bates," joked Thomas. "I thought the point of visit someone in the hospital was to make them feel better, not worse".  
At this, Bates actually smiled. Then he became serious again. "I just think that every Daisy should have a Barrow", he said, almost whispering.  
Thomas raised his eyebrows, feeling confused, but he decided it was time to change the subject, and he asked about news from the Abbey. Only later, when he was alone again, he found himself thinking about Bates' visit.  
It had been different from the others. Something was... off. The way in which Bates had spoken about Thomas saving Daisy had looked really personal, like he had said. But why? The sentence about any Daisy that should have a Barrow was really bothering him, now that he was thinking about it. Of course, any decent person would have wanted a woman to be saved by an attack like that one. But... there was pain in Bates' eyes. It wasn't just something that he had said to be nice to him.  
It looked like he was really taking personally what happened to Daisy and Thomas.  
Maybe it was personal for Bates, after all. Maybe what happened to Daisy had brought him to mind something else. Something that had happened to somebody close to him. Maybe it was... Oh, God.

The next day, like every other day, Bates arrived in the afternoon, and sat in the chair next to Thomas' bed.  
"I thought about what you said yesterday", said Thomas, without giving him the time to speak.  
"Oh".  
"Yes... how all of this was personal for you, and what you said about every Daisy that should have a Barrow... I thought that..." Then, he sighed before finishing the question. "Someone hurt Anna, right?"  
Mr. Bates lowered his eyes on the floor, and didn't answered. Thomas paled, and sighed again. "Oh no... I'm sorry. Truly. Was it... was it that Green, right?"  
Bates nodded. "Yes. The night of the concert".  
"Oh... I... I can't believe it... we were all there".  
"Anna went downstairs to take a powder for the headache. He surprised her. She was alone".  
They didn't speak for a few seconds. "I should have gone with her", said Bates.  
Thomas looked at him, surprised. "I... I don't think this was your fault. You couldn't know".  
"No, but I didn't like him. It was like I felt something. I didn't like how he was looking at her. But then I thought I was just being irrationally jealous".  
"I still think it wasn't your fault. Nor Anna's, of course. Both of you couldn't have known what kind of person he was. It's sad that no one reported him earlier. How is Anna?". Bates swallowed before answering. "She is mostly fine, now. It's been years ago. But sometimes she still has nightmares".  
"I'm really, really sorry", said Thomas, who looked honestly shocked and moved. "Believe me, if I had known... even if we weren't friends back then, if I had known what was going on... I would have done something".  
"I know you would have".  
Some more silence, and Bates spoke again. "She screamed, you know. Anna. Like Daisy did. But in her case, no one came. Not even me".  
No answer. Bates saw that Thomas had lowered his head, and he looked like he was about to cry. "I'm sorry, Thomas. I really shouldn't upset you. I only wanted to explain why what you did for Daisy is so important for me. I would say it gave me hope. Even if for you saving Daisy was the normal thing to do... I needed someone to make me see it".  
"I think... it's bad to say it, but... probably the only reason why no one helped Anna is because no one heard her. Daisy was lucky, because I heard her screaming. If I hadn't... they would have done to her what Green did to Anna".  
"I know".  
The two men sat in silence for a while. Then, Bates spoke again. "So, now you know why I spend so much time with you".  
Thomas didn't answer for a few seconds. "I hope it helped you", he said then.  
"I think it did, Mr. Barrow. Thanks for letting me stay".  
Thomas only nodded.


End file.
